Dave Agema, a former Michigan state
representative and prominent GOP leader in the state, says gays want
free medical care because they are dying young.

“Folks, they [gay people] want free
medical because they're dying [when they're] between 30 and 44 years
old. To me, it's a moral issue. It's a Biblical issue. Traditional
marriage is where it should be and it's in our platform. Those in
our party who oppose traditional marriage are wrong,” Agema told a
Berrien County Republicans audience on Thursday, The
Herald-Palladium reported.

Agema, Michigan's national GOP
committeeman, also called on Michigan Republicans to make peace with
the Tea Party and independents.

“We cannot win without the
independents and the Tea Party, so get over it, folks,” he said.
“You're going to have to get along with these folks.”

Agema, a former pilot, said that while
working at American Airlines he saw gay workers falsely claim
HIV-positive persons as their spouses to secure medical benefits for
them.

Agema was severely criticized in March
after he promoted an article which described gays as “filthy
homosexuals” in a Facebook post.